Storm of Suspicion | Full Episode

foreign [Music] always had a great spirit about her she knew what she wanted she went for it to jump out of a perfect job [Music] she could take care of herself [Music] she was obviously very beautiful very attractive but there was something about her she radiated light I worked with Crystal as a flight attendant she was definitely a goofball and she would even describe herself as a dork International she kind of has like a gypsy Soul like she was a flight attendant you know she just likes traveling I've been dating Crystal McDowell for a few weeks now we've both been divorced and we knew exactly what we wanted you know when you first meet somebody and you're kind of on Cloud9 that's kind of how we were tropical storm Harvey is expected to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall in Texas hurricane warnings in place along most of the Texas coast Friday morning August 25th is when she left the house she was actually living with her ex-husband she was living in the master bedroom downstairs and he had moved into a bedroom upstairs he had such a passion of love for her it was almost like an obsessive controlling love she sent me a few text messages and I replied back but I never got a reply for that so I thought maybe she was just preoccupied with getting ready for the storm across southern Texas grocery store shelves are bare people are rushing to stock up on last minute supplies at that point in time I just started trying to find relatives or friends to reach out to them to see if they knew where she was and that's when I reached out to Jeff Walters he's her uncle I get messages from her every morning I get messages all throughout the day she's one of the most responsible people that I know she never loses contact with us Chambers County Sheriff's Office [Music] no one can get a [Music] serious storm it's going to last four or five days and quite frankly this is Day Day One morning police are searching for a Texas mother who mysteriously disappeared before Harvey hit we are hampered by some of the flood issues but we are as aggressive as ever trying to locate Crystal McDowell I knew she wouldn't run away she would never be that type of person so that was would she have ever left her kids no happy birthday [Music] automatically as a sheriff I know that mothers don't leave their children and there's obviously never a good time for anybody to become missing but the timing was terrible was there a part of you that just went it can't get any worse um on more than one occasion my gut tells me there's something catastrophically wrong with this scenario by the time flood waters receded authorities believed one of three men knew where Crystal was got the boyfriend got the ex-husband well then the uncle was making Such Noise about everything I started thinking about him 21 months later one would be on trial for murder oh foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign Baytown has picked up 32.9 inches the house is totaled all my furniture is totaled can you get to the top of your vehicle it was horrible the rain wouldn't stop it just would not stop district attorney Cheryl leak says despite the horrific flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Baytown Texas a suburb of Houston the investigators were determined to find crystal McDowell we had deputies that were flooded out of their homes one of our investigators lost his entire house our local Texas Ranger and his wife were flooded out of theirs and yet they showed up for work yep every day yep everybody all day looking for this woman everybody but weather was not their only challenge if we still had met with Foul Play the sheriff says there was a growing list of people to question she was extremely social she had lots of friends she had been at flight attendant for 10 years and then had become a real estate agent on the top of the list Crystal's Uncle Jeff who cared for Crystal after her parents died when she was 11 years old and our main objective is just to get crystals back out he was the person that was extremely emotional and reported or missing but then he kept getting in the way of the investigation [Music] getting in the way by going through Crystal's townhouse with other family members potentially tainting important evidence this is not a game to us this is not a hobby this is what we do Crystal's Family even hired a private investigator but you don't bring on some amateur super sleuth wannabe when you're in the middle of a missing person's investigation also on the list the men romantically linked to Crystal there was Steve McDowell Crystal's ex-husband a shipping manager in June 2017 the couple went through what many described as an amical divorce after 10 years of marriage and two children a boy Madden and a girl Maui and what was his story of for Friday morning that she never showed up that she was supposed to show up and and she just never did that morning at 701 on August 25th Steve who had the kids says he received a text message from Crystal it read on my way do you have water looks like I may stay here with the kids it seems just like rain but Uncle Jeff Walter says that Steve showed him another text that Crystal allegedly sent around 9 30 that morning saying she had changed her mind and she planned to stop by pick up the kids and take them to Dallas they just said it just didn't sound like her and that nobody knew where she was nobody had heard her voice and they just knew that something wasn't right what did he tell authorities about their marriage their relationship he told them that they were fine he didn't mind the divorce and everything was just hunky-dory in fact Crystal was living with Steve and the kids in a house she helped him buy while her townhouse was being renovated he had such a passion of love for her that it was almost unhealthy Cindy see rate is Crystal's Aunt like if she wanted her feet rubbed he would rub her feet if she wanted her hair brush she would brush her hair is it fair to say that she wore the pants in the family yes most definitely but over time they grew apart he didn't challenge her was the word she wanted to be the best she could possibly be and Steve was okay with just stepping back being you know the house person he was the dad she was more of the provider Krista McDowell Steve's daughter from a previous relationship was at Texas A M University when she heard the news Crystal was missing is he love being around the kids there is life she was his life and they were his life to the sheriff it certainly didn't seem like Crystal's ex-husband knew anything about her disappearance but he was very Cooperative us very very kind very friendly and he immediately says that he wants to help it was Crystal's new boyfriend Paul Hargrave who the sheriff really wanted to speak with Paul owned a local jewelry store and had been dating Crystal for a few weeks the last place that we have her is in the Baytown area leaving Paul's house she seemed in love with him they seemed perfect together she was happy so happy that Crystal had posted on Facebook just two days before she disappeared I've never been happier in my whole life than I am right now God is so good well we had talked about going to Europe and she got a ticket to go with me to Belgium next month the investigators would learn Crystal had also invited Paul to go on a family cruise they only caveat Steve her ex-husband was going too and I told her well gosh I'd love to go but I think it's going to be awkward for me to be there with the ex-husband so she had asked him to refrain from going and I know that that didn't go well she stressed to me that he was pretty upset about that which is why Paul said he was deeply concerned when Crystal disappeared after she left his home in her black Mercedes which was also missing I hope and pray that you know she's okay and she's going to come back to us so he went on national TV and spoke with CBS this morning's Michelle Miller what do you think happened to I'm not sure but we're just trying to focus on on finding her and assisting the glutes with whatever we can assist them with but Sheriff Hawthorne says he became suspicious after Paul failed to tell authorities about security footage from his home showing the last time Crystal was seen alive he actually walked right through this living room at 709 when my cameras picked that up I think she was seen leaving the driveway at 7 10. Paul shared the tapes not with investigators but with the media so immediately we're like well why would he be turning it over to the media but yet my investigators don't have that those videos intentional or oversight on his part I don't know because it it took us a few days to get it so obviously every hour that ticked off he became the sheriff's Person of Interest that's for sure the case stalled mostly says the sheriff because investigators couldn't agree on which direction to go in some of the investigators that were involved in this would say you know I I think it's Steve and some would say I still can't get over Jeff and I'm still looking at Paul but then finally a break in the case Crystal's Mercedes was spotted by a friend I will give the family credit for finding that vehicle so now they knew where the car was but who put it there and what would they find inside weather and time deteriorate evidence physical evidence foreign the cops were here busting indoors to find out where this lady is how are you Ron Hawthorne Sheriff Hawthorne could not believe what he found when he arrived at Crystal's Mercedes in the Motel 6 parking lot well you could get in the car because it was unlocked and the keys were sitting on the console did that strike you as odd oh very odd my criminal investigation Captain told me he said I feel like it's been staged set up for someone to take it correct but whoever had left the car there to be taken did not anticipate the massive flooding in the aftermath of hurricane Harvey the water had risen you couldn't get it out of the parking lot and that was finally a break in your direction correct Crystal's Mercedes was finally towed from the motel and processed but flood waters in Houston made it impossible to get results back from the crime scene lab a lot of their majors and captains and sergeants and and investigators homes were going underwater it was chaos for everybody they're just a lot of moving Parts at this point we're just going to get this thing started y'all and and 48 Hours was granted unprecedented access inside the sheriff's war room you know in interviewing Stephen he was telling us he was making calls from certain locations he didn't make those he was actually mobile he is denying knowing Paul existed until two days ago I don't believe that the investigation had taken a toll on D.A leak who had lost all hope I know she's dead [Music] there has been no activity on any of her credit cards debit cards nothing you know and she doesn't have a cell phone nobody leaves anymore without a cell phone Sheriff Hawthorne deputies and Texas Rangers expanded their focus from finding Crystal to finding her killer we've got a handful of folks that need to be interviewed what else do you guys seeing it's up on this board that we need to get done because this stuff's going to start drying up on us if we don't jump on it Paul is just soaking up to all their attention yeah he is and he loves it and he's best buddies with Uncle Jeff too that's what I don't understand it's getting more and more interesting about Uncle Jeff isn't it as of about midnight last night the net has widened and its husband boyfriend uncle Jesus early in the investigation the top Persons of Interest had been brought in for questioning in his police interview Paul pointed the finger at Steve foreign Jeff Walters was no fan of Crystal's new boyfriend Paul and Steve stuck with his story that Crystal never showed up at his house we polygraphed two of them and Steve and Paul Stephen Paul that is correct and how did they do um Steve failed and I'll let Paul tell you how he did he insinuated he didn't use those terms but he called me a liar but security cameras don't lie focusing on the location of the car deputies began Gathering video from nearby businesses a camera at a Shell gas station next door to the motel appears to have captured one of their three Persons of Interest looks like he's getting out and he's putting something in the trash can and he's stuffing it all the way down like to his elbow like a bag or it looked like clothing is what it looked like deputies say it is Steve McDowell and it's what McDowell keeps glancing at that makes the investigators sit up and take notice the motel 6. you can see that he's looking over and he's looking to see if the car is still there and it was we recovered the trash can and the problem is all the contents had floated out of it because of the hurt because of the storm then investigators received different security video showing Steve in action right in the Motel 6 parking lot you just see somebody park the car and and someone that that has that resembles her ex-husband getting out of it and what does that say to you um it says that my purse of Interest has changed I remember I'm I'm the one that's still looking at Paul the videos purely circumstantial evidence but that's where I'm going with this okay for the first time investigators are all heading in the same direction confront Steve about where is she but Steve was still insisting he had nothing to do with Crystal's disappearance this is what I carry so they turned to someone else in the family's Inner Circle for help Crystal's Aunt Cindy C Wright I said Cindy I need you to stay close to Steve I said we we need communication and he may not communicate with us and he may communicate with you every day I was just praying every day that I went that he would say something today the investigators were becoming increasingly frustrated when you have no body that's a huge hindrance [Music] the way someone's killed where they're found that generally can give you an idea of who killed them all right guys and gals we've been asked by Chambers County to go ahead and search for crystal Texas equisearch to help find Crystal let's remember that this place flooded real bad so if she was dumped in this area let's hope that she got washed up in maybe some tree lines and stuff did not end up in the water I'll joined the suitors and Alters pitched he's offered a ten thousand dollar reward and I offered a five thousand dollar reward investigators dug in more things didn't quite add up this is a case about lots of Secrets double lives on many people's parts it's one of those cases I think I've seen it all I've never seen anything like this before listen to the interrogations are there Clues to find crystal go to Facebook at 48 hours [Music] what are you doing today I'm about to jump out of a perfect job whose idea was this Steve Steve your idea five years before her disappearance it seemed like Crystal and Steve McDowell were on top of the world how high are we right now what does that say the jump had been a 33rd birthday gift from Steve happy birthday high five hey look your husband lived too what a bonus no Crystal's ex-husband was the main person of interest in her disappearance there were those security tapes and D.A Cheryl League says they had discovered Steve had lied about their so-called friendly divorce what did you find out as the investigation went along that he didn't want the divorce what we were getting from the family is that he was distraught had always been distraught every time she tried to leave him it was early on when things started not going well LJ Adams a bail bondsman and Crystal's good friend says the relationship was troubled right from the start judging from the things that she said Steve McDowell is a very very self-centered selfish manipulative person he just got to where he wanted things his way and he wanted it that way and right now and if it didn't work out or she couldn't do it at that moment it would be a temper tantrum in 2008 just one year after they married Crystal filed for divorce but LJ says she didn't go through with it back then because Steve had made threats it was always like well if you leave me you know I'm just going to kill myself emotional blackmail yeah kind of sort of but he knew what to say and what to do Dexter come on but Krista McDowell says her father is not that man she knows him as a loving father with a playful side he's a really goofy guy like that's the best way I could describe him fun guy fun guy so her father was in and out of her life for form there was a brief period of time when she lived with Steve and Crystal I was in high school so it was like eighth grade to sophomore year I guess I was 14 about 16. she admits the relationship between Crystal and her father was turbulent but says he was not the only one at fault both weren't perfect and they both had their issues I just think that they were very toxic for each other and they made each other crazy whenever they were together it was never a happy ending she was hopeful things would get better once they finally got divorced but after Crystal officially filed the paperwork in February 2017. Krista says her father began acting strangely so in March I noticed that my dad had like been acting weird on Facebook then he also changed his profile pictures to like it was a grave and then it was a grim reaper like profile picture and then he made it a picture of him and Crystal and then he took that off and then he made it say no profile picture in a short period of time this was on like a matter of like two three days I learned that shortly after Crystal filed for divorce she had called 9-1-1 and told police that Steve had disappeared with their kids she had given Steve the kids and he essentially did not bring the kids back for a few days for a few days and did he threaten to hurt himself and the kids it kind of put out an allegation and a threat that you know he would harm himself and Crystal and and the kids [Music] [Music] daughter that he had become upset after discovering that Crystal had numerous Affairs while they were married but he said he was so in love with her yes and he said like I love her with all my heart but I just can't let her keep tearing me down like this so he was okay with getting a divorce at that point he was accepting of it he thought it was for the best he thought maybe he could like get his life in order then but crystals on Cindy says Steve was just not ready to let go remember that Crews they were supposed to go on Cindy says Steve actually planned to propose to Crystal again even though they had just been divorced he literally bought some clothes for both of them it's a white dress and a white suit and literally he was going to propose but Christos says her father told her this was all his ex-wife's idea my dad told me just the other day that she had mentioned how would you feel about getting remarried on the cruise it's like a fresh start do you think that's true that she said that to him yeah I don't believe Crystal would ever lead him to believe that I really don't this was a fantasy in his head I believe that in early August it seemed Crystal had moved on and was dating Paul Hargrave Cindy C Ray says at first Crystal tried to keep it a secret from Steve even though she was still living with him as she said Aunt Cindy I have to keep this quiet he will kill me but by August 23rd just two days before she disappeared Crystal made that Facebook post and had disinvited Steve from the cruise D.A leak thinks this might have been the start of Steve's final unraveling Steve was probably more upset about not going on the cruise because he thought they were going to rekindle their Romance and there was more she was a financial meal ticket to him LJ Adams says Crystal had recently decided to cut Steve off financially because he was just spending money just spending money just ridiculously just spending money and at that point she just said I can't do this anymore Steve was it just losing her Cheryl or was it he was losing his whole life someone else was sliding into his position his whole life his whole lifestyle as cleanup from Hurricane Harvey was underway the investigators had cleared Paul Hargrave and Crystal's Uncle Jeff they were now convinced Steve McDowell had the motive to murder his ex-wife and that he had dumped her car at the motel 6. but how did he get home this security video from a nearby Walmart would provide bad answer we spot a bicycle on the service road Interstate 10 Service Road investigators were convinced it was Steve McDowell for you the surveillance footage is the Turning Point absolutely absolutely Authority 30s were closing in on Steve McDowell and the stakes were only getting higher because he still had the children we could potentially be minutes or hours away from somebody losing control again again correct [Music] foreign he'd come in every day and sit there five hours or so and just nope nope wasn't mean wasn't me district attorney Cheryl League knew Steve McDowell had killed Crystal but knowing it and proving it were two different things we didn't have enough to arrest him and she says McDowell seemed to understand that was he arrogant helpful Cooperative arrogant in aloof it was a game he's just he's just gaming us he thinks at this point we have no direct evidence we just have circumstantial evidence circumstantial evidence has as much weight in a court as direct evidence but you just need more of it Luke says the evidence that finally brought the case home for her was that security video from this Walmart showing how McDowell probably got home after ditching Crystal's car we had him buying the bike and riding it out what happens next we bring him back in day after day investigators were telling McDowell they were successfully Gathering more and more evidence a ploy to wear him down he was just like melting you know you could see that it was getting to him you could tell he wasn't eating he wasn't sleeping his face had sunken in there's no telling what Steve may be trying to to tell the kids Sheriff Brian Hawthorne says investigators were under pressure too you know we can't wait and deeply concerned about just how much might be too much for McDowell at the time when all this is taking place he is got custody of his children I kept thinking he's going to kill those kids he's going to kill those kids once again Steve voluntarily came in for questioning but Cheryl leak wasn't taking any more chances she'd been in touch with family and protective services and convinced the agency to remove the McDowell kids from his home that evening and place them with their Aunt Cindy we knew psychologically that that would be the final straw for him his kids being gone he would have nothing left right and what was his response he just about collapsed exhausted McDowell said he wanted to go home but promised he would return in the morning ready to talk he said I'll tell you everything without enough evidence to arrest him and knowing a full confession was their only real chance of finding Crystal's body the sheriff allowed his prime suspect to walk out the door that was a big risk that he wouldn't run or kill himself it was a risk I've been a crime reporter for 25 years I have never heard of a department saying go home and get your Affairs in order I mean that's the part I go really like they let him go home but see this is a thing we had the kids and taking them is a moment Sheriff Hawthorne will never forget we knew that these kids were probably never going to see their mother again or their father as a father or their father is a free man can you give me a minute yes both of the children came out and gave every one of us bear hugs and that's when you realize the the totality and the impact that Family Violence has on children [Music] McDowell's Young he summoned his older daughter Krista to come home from college immediately I was at work and I work at a bar so I work pretty late Kristen McDowell says she was confused when her father texted her in the middle of the night he said your little brother and sister are going to go live somewhere else for a while she was already planning to head home later that day and he was like is there any way you can be here sooner you probably won't see me for a while unless you come see me in person before then and so I got in my car 3 30 in the morning drove all the way to Baytown two hours later it was the beginning of the end of Christa's life as she knew it it was dark still I knocked on his door and he let me in he told me that at 10 am the Rangers were gonna come pick him up she says at first her father seemed more annoyed than anything did you think he had anything to do with it at that point no not at all not a single like hint that he had anything to do with that did you ask him if he had anything to do with it yes I'd asked him multiple times like like are you guilty and he was just like no like I just don't understand like why I'm getting blamed and the entire time he pleaded to me like his innocence Christus says though clearly anxious it mostly seemed like her father was just trying to take care of business giving her photo albums financial statements even the keys to his beloved Mustang until the conversation took an Abrupt turn he looks at me and he says the Rangers told me that if I tell them where the body is that they'll lessen my punishment and I said well you don't know where the body is like how would you know and he was like What if it's true and I asked him you know where the body is and he just like looked away from me and just like buys out and at that point I knew I he knew where it was what did you think at that point I don't know what do you think if someone that you love and you've sat here and defended the whole time tells you they're guilty what do you think did you think he had actually confessed to you at that point even though he never said the actual words what he did over and over I begged him to tell me and he was just like I just I can't tell you what I did and then um all of a sudden like we heard a noise and he stood up and he was like they're here and then all of a sudden he's he's gone yeah I literally dropped to my knees and just cried [Music] police brought Steve McDowell back to the station to deliver his much-anticipated confession but the man who had kept them guessing about so much for so long was about to make them guess again he's like gank in your chain yeah I had had it at this point I had had it [Music] foreign [Music] I didn't sleep much literally I could not wait for daylight to come up Steve McDowell agreed to meet with Sheriff Hawthorne at the investigation team one more time and finally provide an answer to the question what happened to Crystal my understanding from our communication was that you were kind of ready to be honest about some things we needed a confession we needed somebody to take us to her body Sheriff Hawthorne watched in a nearby room as McDonald's shared the details of the morning Crystal came home after a night with her boyfriend [Music] I love her I would do anything of my life I think they got into an argument when she got home and I think he was mad that she had stayed out all night she didn't love you anymore and it seems that was enough for Steve McDowell to make a terrible choice [Music] scribes and essentially shows that he strangled her from behind so she had no idea he was coming yes okay like a Chokehold or something did she say anything when that was going on or did she fight or what happened how did you eventually know that she was no longer alive and what'd you do after that I told her basically bad and then we put her in the car a daughter of putting up the trash bags and then McDowell says early the following morning he drove off to dispose of Crystal's body leaving their two children home alone the body was found right in here McDowell leads investigators here a densely wooded area off an access road not far from his house Steve drives the detectives and the investigators out here our cameras were the train was pretty tough because it was a lot of work just trying to clear the trees and the limbs so that we could bring the body out at the end of a long search sheriff and D.A share a moment it was just relief today at 2 45 pm Crystal's body was discovered and Stephen Wayne McDowell 44 has been arrested charged with murder if he had not told you exactly where the body was would she have ever been found Steve McDonald showed investigators where the body was he was brought here to the Chambers County jail now even though he confessed to strangling Crystal that may not be the end of it in Texas a defendant can claim they killed someone out of sudden passion which could mean as little as two years in prison which is exactly what Steve McDowell did in June 2019 during his trial for murder McDowell testified that Crystal's death was a result of a spontaneous hug that got out of control but D.A Lee gave the jury a different point of view do you think this was premeditated yes without a doubt and this was not just he snapped well you can snap and still think about it I think he just decided if I can't have her nobody can after five days of testimony evidence and argument it only took three and a half hours for the jury to reach a verdict guilty one day later the same jury sentence Steve McDowell to 50 years in prison for the murder of his ex-wife we've been very fortunate the jury saw it the same way the law enforcement officers and the District Attorney's office did it feels good I think they made the right decision so it was 50 years he will have to serve at least 25. uh before he's eligible for parole I hope he never makes it out of there he deserves whatever he gets for the kids it's just a sad situation all the way around both parents are gone now basically those kids are motherless and fatherless just like Crystal was which brings us back to the other victims in this case the children it was on Cindy who was tasked with telling an eight-year-old boy and his five-year-old sister the truth and I just grabbed their hands and I said we've found your mommy she's in heaven and your daddy's in jail for taking your mother's life [Music] and at that point Madden looked up and he said I said okay he said I can deal with this and Madden grabbed his sister and they hugged and he said I love you Maui he said I'll always take care of you and Krista promises to always be a part of their lives I thought about my brother and sister and I was like they have no one I need to be the bigger person right now and I need to be the person they look up to Crystal loved him with every part of her being she wanted them to have the wonderful life [Music] you think he'll be okay I know they will be without a shadow of a doubt the couple's young children are living out of state with a family friend who is in the process of obtaining full legal custody Steve McDowell will be eligible for parole in 2042. a young mother vanishes her fiance charged with murder stunning evidence his secret girlfriend shows police how she cleaned up the crime scene Justice for Kelsey 48 hours next on CBS

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 11,088,125

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Id: m3VZcMr9nqs

Length: 42min 37sec (2557 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 25 2022